Voices O'er the Waves

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An homage to a long and varied tradition of water songs

One of the prerequisites for any successful community is easy access to water and, often, the sites where our largest cities have sprung up have been in close proximity to large bodies of it, such as rivers, lakes and seas. It is no surprise that musical cultures around the world have entire genres devoted to our relationship with water – from British sea shanties to songs of the Venetian gondoliers. In Voices o’er the Waves The Consort of Melbourne pays homage to a long and varied tradition of water songs, from ancient Gregorian chant to Veljo Tormis’ powerful Incantation for a stormy sea.

Full fathom five thy father lies;Of his bones are coral made;Those are pearls that were his eyes;Nothing of him that doth fade,But doth suffer a sea-changeInto something rich and strange.

- From The Tempest by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), featured in Vaughan Williams’ Full Fathom Five

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